So it’s been nearly two weeks since my lovely 360 was savagely attacked by a Muntjac. I have made contact with a few additional bodyshops (after Neil Garner and Slade’s Garage) to see who is willing and able to help get her back on the road. Obviously photos can give an idea of what’s happened and what might be involved in fixing, but to get an accurate quote I need to shuttle the car around. So today I have hitched a ride from Heathrow with my mum—and the family friends she was collecting—so I can leave the team at Garner’s continuing their quote-sourcing and give the guys at Slade’s something to actually look at.
Everyone keeps saying that it’s a repair job, not a whole bumper replacement, which is somewhat good news. I’m also told that it shouldn’t take too long to fix: bumper off, strip it down, patch it up, cover it back up with paint, and finally put it all back together. I imagine that there might be several rounds of applying fibreglass and sanding, followed by several of primer, paint, and clear coat, with a bit of resting between, so the process might be a little drawn out over a few days, but hopefully not too many man-hours of actual work.
Quality over quantity, that’s what we aim for!
What a day it’s been: beautiful clear skies, no heavy traffic on the motorway, and the chance to provide some insight to a prospective Ferrari owner. I had a free ride from Heathrow back to my parents, as my mum was collecting old family friends. We saw two Lamborghini Gallardo’s and one Ferrari 458; then once I was on my way back, heading in to the small town of Cricklade I was followed by (what I think was) an Ferrari F12, and then in the centre of the town I came head to head with another (yellow) 360! (Which my mum had said to look out for because she had seen it quite a bit in the last few weeks.) Once on the M4 I saw another of each Ferrari and Lamborghini—360 and Diablo— this time heading out of London. I even saw a Ford GT! It was a proper Supercar Saturday.
Arriving at Slade’s Garage I had to join the queue—there was several groups all looking for their next set of luxury, high performance wheels. One couple, who were looking at an F430 Spider were discussing how nervous they would each feel driving it around, so I interjected with but it’s worth it, and still so much fun. We had a brief chat about scuffed bumpers which inevitably lead to the reason why I was there. They wished me luck, as did I to them, and I was once again on my way.
Hopefully I’ll know within the next week what options are available for my bumper, but as I told Daniel, I’m in no real rush; the next time I need my car is the second half of June: first for my brothers wedding, and then for the Goodwood Festival of Speed! So until I hear anything, that’s all from me…
